Short - Definition

adv 1: quickly and without warning; "he stopped suddenly" [syn:
abruptly, suddenly, short, dead]
2: without possessing something at the time it is contractually
sold; "he made his fortune by selling short just before the
crash"
3: clean across; "the car's axle snapped short"
4: at some point or distance before a goal is reached; "he fell
short of our expectations"
5: so as to interrupt; "She took him up short before he could
continue"
6: at a disadvantage; "I was caught short" [syn: short,
unawares]
7: in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner; "he told me curtly
to get on with it"; "he talked short with everyone"; "he said
shortly that he didn't like it" [syn: curtly, short,
shortly]
adj 1: primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming
to be limited in duration; "a short life"; "a short
flight"; "a short holiday"; "a short story"; "only a few
short months" [ant: long]
2: (primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in
length; "short skirts"; "short hair"; "the board was a foot
short"; "a short toss" [ant: long]
3: low in stature; not tall; "he was short and stocky"; "short
in stature"; "a short smokestack"; "a little man" [syn:
short, little] [ant: tall]
4: not sufficient to meet a need; "an inadequate income"; "a
poor salary"; "money is short"; "on short rations"; "food is
in short supply"; "short on experience" [syn: inadequate,
poor, short]
5: (of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range; "a short
memory" [syn: unretentive, forgetful, short] [ant:
long, recollective, retentive, tenacious]
6: not holding securities or commodities that one sells in
expectation of a fall in prices; "a short sale"; "short in
cotton" [ant: long]
7: of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration;
"the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot',
putt' are short" [ant: long]
8: less than the correct or legal or full amount often
deliberately so; "a light pound"; "a scant cup of sugar";
"regularly gives short weight" [syn: light, scant(p),
short]
9: lacking foresight or scope; "a short view of the problem";
"shortsighted policies"; "shortsighted critics derided the
plan"; "myopic thinking" [syn: short, shortsighted,
unforesightful, myopic]
10: tending to crumble or break into flakes due to a large
amount of shortening; "shortbread is a short crumbly
cookie"; "a short flaky pie crust"
11: marked by rude or peremptory shortness; "try to cultivate a
less brusque manner"; "a curt reply"; "the salesgirl was
very short with him" [syn: brusque, brusk, curt,
short(p)]
n 1: the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is
stationed
2: accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit
that have a potential difference [syn: short circuit,
short]
3: the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is
stationed between second and third base [syn: shortstop,
short]
v 1: cheat someone by not returning him enough money [syn:
short-change, short]
2: create a short circuit in [syn: short-circuit, short]